Saturday, March 26, 2011

University of the Patently Obvious

So by now, everyone probably knows that Geraldine Ferraro died today. As a pioneering woman in politics, paving the way for the likes of Hilary Rodham Clinton and (gulp!) Sarah Palin, it's only natural that her death would get lots of press.
As I always do when in my car, while driving home from my class today, I tuned in to WTOP. At the top of the hour, they led with a CBS News Special Report by veteran correspondent Sam Litzinger.
In his report, Litzinger said that Ferraro once commented that she hoped she'd live to see the inauguration of the first woman president. Following that comment, Litzinger said, "She didn't."
Really? Thanks for that astute comment, Sam.
By the way, how much did you pay for that crack journalism education of yours?

Friday, March 25, 2011

Clairol? L'Oreal? Revlon? Not...

It's been said that children take after their parents. True that...
My mom's had grey hair since she was 40 years old, give or take. In that department, I take after her.
I've been asked before if I'm going to dye my hair. Generally, I say, "No." I'm just not interested in spending the time or money to fight the course of nature. I'm actually very satisfied with my hair just the way it is.
Of late, it's attracted some attention.
But the questions/comments I'm getting have left me scratching my head underneath all that hair....
Yesterday, for the third time in as many weeks, I was asked if I dye my hair.
What? Do I dye my hair grey? Seriously?
Eventually I'm going to say, "Yes, of course, I do."
Does anyone know where to get grey hair dye?

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

What part of MONROE didn't you understand?

If you're from the North, you've likely heard a stereotype or two about the way Southerners talk and think -- slow. Not always true, certainly. But during a recent vacation in Nashville, TN, I had an exchange with a Southerner that put that theory to the test. Let's just say that I'm trying not to be too judgmental now ...
Thanks to Groupon, we learned about a place called the Savannah Tea Company on Monroe Street in the Germantown section of Nashville. We purchased said Groupon and made a reservation for a full "afternoon tea" (scones, fruit, pastries, finger sandwiches ... the works!) on Friday afternoon. So far, so good.
On Friday morning we go to the Country Music Hall of Fame which is about a mile and a half from the Savannah Tea Company. It's a beautiful day, so we decide to walk from the Hall of Fame. We have a map of the city, but it doesn't show Monroe Street. Whatever. After walking about a quarter mile in the wrong direction, we figure out which way to go and figure we'll get there when we get there.
We walk and walk and ... well, you get the picture.
We've just crossed Jefferson Street and now our map is not showing streets anymore. The time of our reservation is drawing near and we have no idea how much farther we have to walk. Now we're starting to get nervous. Seriously, how far away is Monroe Street?
Best thing to do, we decide, go into a local business and ask. So we go into a shop (Soon after we will learn that this shop is only 3/4 of a block from Monroe Street) and I ask a young lady behind the counter, "Where is Monroe Street?"
She hems and haws a bit and then asks me, "What are you looking for?"
 Huh?!
"Monroe Street," I say, a little bit slower ... as I think to myself, "What part of 'Monroe Street' didn't you understand?"

You look the same from the ankles down...

Yeehaw! I just got back from a week's vacation in Nashville, TN and man, was it fun!
Gary and I took in live music performances EVERY DAY. It's amazing -- you can walk down the street in downtown Nashville at noon and pop in almost anywhere and catch someone playing something.
So. Much. Fun.
We stayed at the Wyndham Nashville -- a timeshare that is a hop, skip and a jump from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which, in and of itself is a marvel and completely over the top, not unlike some of the performers' outfits, guitars, etc. 
So, speaking of performances, every Sunday the Wyndham hosts a welcome party. Guests are bused to the party, which features ... live music! And dancing and more.
During one number a group of guests and staff got up and started doing The Electric Slide. I know it, but not well. I figure if I want to pick up the steps, I'd do well to watch a dancer's feet.  So I watched a man who was  wearing black boots like these:
Cut to the evening is over and we're on the bus on the way back. A guy wearing black boots gets on and another guy says to him, "You danced very well." I proceed to gush to Mr. Black Boots how I've found it very instructive to watch him during The Electric Slide and I'm most impressed with his movements. To which he says, "But I didn't dance."
But you're wearing black boots... .
Hey! Wait just a gol durned minute! Ya think it's possible that maybe more than one guy had black boots on? Ya think?
So, blushing, I say to Mr. Mistaken Identity, "Well, I was watching the guy's feet and you look the same from the ankles down!"
Way to save face, huh?

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

And what disease would you like on the side?

I have a five-year old restaurant receipt hanging on my refrigerator door. More about that later....
Today is National Pancake Day at IHOP. In partnership with various charities, all day long IHOP offers customers a complimentary short stack in return for a donation. Gary usually starts asking, "When is Pancake Day?" around October. Today I was finally able to answer with, "It's today, Dear!" It's usually on Shrove Tuesday (AKA Mardi Gras), which is next week. It's not quite clear why it's being held a week early this year, but I'm not complaining...
So Gary and I had a breakfast date this morning. Fun! Per usual, our local IHOPs are raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society -- a most worthy cause. When our bill came, I checked the receipt carefully. Not because I was concerned about the charges. No. I was interested in the itemization of the bill. 
Remember that receipt on my fridge? Five years ago on National Pancake Day, when we got our receipt, the food portion of the meal was written up as "Leukemia Cakes"!
I'm envisioning the server asking for the rest of the order: "And what disease would you like on the side?"
You can't make this stuff up!